Amount of Expected Visitors May Increase Road Delays

COLUMBIA - The city of Columbia is expecting an increased amount of visitors coming to town for MU's commencement ceremonies this upcoming weekend, which may increase traffic delays.

According to the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, out of the 30 hotels in Columbia 95 percent of them are booked. That means 6,600 rooms will be occupied this weekend. Due to the high occupancy rates, some visitors are having to stay in Jefferson City.

Because of the commute and amount of people coming in and out of the city, MoDOT says it's prepared to try to alleviate elevated traffic.

"We will have extra staff out this weekend monitoring the traffic out this weekend so we can adjust accordingly," said MoDOT Spokesperson Sally Oxenhandler.

MoDOT does provide a traveler's information map that allows drivers to get live updates and information about road closures.

(Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of "elevated" and "MoDOT.")